Grid by Carol Lee Shanks (stitched cloth remains onto hemp). See more here
Carol Lee Shanks designs and constructs unique handcrafted clothing from fine natural textiles. The textile art pieces you see here are made from the scraps of cloth left over from Carol's 2011 Fall Fashion Collection.
"She has a great reverence for cloth allowing it to be the foundation of her inspiration. An integral part of her work is manipulating the cloth to create different surface textures." - World Shobori Network
Horizon by Carol Lee Shanks. Website here
Hercacleum Sphondylium by Cas Holmes. (Paper and textile layers, print, worked on top of old teacloths, dye, paint, print, machine and hand embroidery. Ink drawing and transfer). See website here.
"Cas Holmes is deeply moved by the stories of ordinary people's lives, the births, marriages and deaths; the diseases brought on by harsh working conditions and the way these hard facts are hidden from history, forgotten with the passing of time. Her work often contains snippets of text or discarded materials that have associations or conjure up memories. There is always a dialogue with the materials she uses. They bring their own history which is woven into the work" - Moira Vincentelli, Review for Reflections exhibition.
W.I.P by Christi Carter. See blog post here
I love Christi Carter's beaded piece so much I couldn't wait for it to be completed before posting it :-)
Mieke Renders-de Greef. See more at website here
Mieke Renders-de Greef. Website here.
David Quinn. Website here.
I enjoyed reading about David Quinn's process....
"The starting point can be anything, a colour, a found piece of paper, another painting etc. I work on a lot of pieces at the same time. I like being able to see as many of them as i can while I'm working. They feed into and off each other, some sit for ages before coming to fruition, others can come together quickly, the trick is knowing when to step back. I like to layer things up. I probably approach each piece more like a page in a notebook, that's why having lots is important, it means I don't get too precious and am not overly concerned about messing something up. I try to make the most of every mark and layer, look at it from a few different angles and think about how, if at all I could make something of it. This can mean sitting for ages just looking at the work. I want each piece to contain an element of the unexpected and for that to happen means not having too many plans beforehand. Working on a small scale and on lots of pieces at the same time means you can be a lot more spontaneous which I think is crucial if the work is to have life." - David Quinn. (Read the rest of the interview here and see David's website here)
David Quinn. See website here
Indigo by Jennifer Davies (pigment and plaster on handmade paper). Website here
"In the collages, diverse papers are sewn and glued into surprising combinations. The papers used are often covered with prior visual information -- scraps of old monotypes or failed drawings. Their history animates the collage." - Jennifer Davies
Thyer Machado. See more here
Mary Lloyd Jones. Website here
" I search for devices that will enable me to create multilayered works. This has led to my involvement with the beginnings of language, early man made marks and the Ogham and Bardic Alphabets." - Mary Lloyd Jones
Between the Layers post here
Belinda Clements art journaling space
"Where's your church?"
"We're standing in it."
"But this is a bookstore and it's Friday."
"Yes, but you might also choose to see it as a cathedral of the human spirit -- a storehouse consecrated to the full spectrum of human experience. Just about every idea we've ever had is in here somewhere. A place containing great thinking is a sacred space."
- Forrest Church
Shakespeare & Company, Paris, France. Click to see the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world
I'm re-posting a well known quote by Joseph Campbell as a reminder......
"You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don't know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody, you don't know what anybody owe's to you. This is a place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen."
Kevin Titzer's studio. Click to see more studio spaces here.
"Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it. Get a phonograph and put on the music that you really love, even if it's corny music that nobody else respects." - Joseph Campbell
Elizabeth Gilbert's Sky-brary. Click to read an inspiring interview here.
Elizabeth Gilbert created what she calls her "Sky-brary" in the attic of her home. This is where she wrote her latest novel The Signature of All Things . It's so important to find your own sacred space ..... or think tank ... sky-brary.... or bliss station.
"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again." - Joseph Campbell
Jill Nooney creates sacred space in the garden with her wonderful rock stacks.
"By bringing a soulful consciousness to gardening, sacred space can be created outdoors." - S.Kelley Harrell, Nature's Gifts Anthology
I search for quiet spaces in nature to sit and gather my thoughts.
Land art in the forest. Photographer: Sylvian Meyer on Flickr.
"Many of the tribal peoples of the world recognize that there are four places in nature where you can find deep peace and remember who you really are. One is in the deep woods; one is in the desert; one in the mountains and one near the ocean." - Angeles Arrien, The second half of life.
If you have the time to delve further into sacred space follow these links...
Defining your sacred space by Tod Henry
5 Tips for Creating Sacred Space by Debbie Woodbury
Honouring Sacred Space by David Jones
Nature's Solace
Wide Open Spaces
Creating sacred space
Robyn Gordon 2013
"Every man should be born again
on the first day of January.
Start a fresh page.
Take up one hole more
in the buckle if necessary,
or let down one,
according to circumstances;
but on the first of January
let every man
gird himself once more,
with his face to the front,
and take no interest in the things
that were and are past."
- Henry Ward Beecher
Wishing you all everything of the best for 2014
